Life-preserver



0. A. YVOUNGREN AND 1. A. WATT LIFE PRESERVER. PPLICATIONIFILED .|UNE14,A9181 1,374,623, Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

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,osoAR A. YQUNGRENAND .TAT/IESA. WATT, orggNnwrm A.ssieNonsf"*fr "dffyNATIONAL LIFE PRESERVERQCOMBANY, or* NEW Yong, N. vY., A CQRPORAT'I'ON1,

or' WYOMING.

" Application mea June 14, 191s. serial No. 239,966. f

To aZZfw/wm y74aafy-concern.' Be it known that we, OSCAR A. .YoUNGREN acitizen of the United States,,residing at New York, New yYork county,andState of New York, and JAMES A.\WATT, a citizen of the United States,residing at .New,.-York,

New York county, and State-of New" York,4r

have invented and discoveredV certain new and useful Improvements inLife-Pre`servers,'

of whichithe -followingfis specification.4

The object of our said invention is to prof' vide alife preserverin theform offa waterproof suit adapted tocompletely inclose the body of thewearer and t0 be put onover 'the clothing, and one which [may readilyfbeadapted tofloat the wearer regardless of weight; Vand further, toprovide means whereby such a `suit may be readilyiand 'cone venientlyput -on and adjusted tothe .body of the wearer and they vclosuresealed-'c1uic`k ly in sucha way as to make it watertight. y,

This invention consists in' an' improvement,l

in the 'structure of; water-proofsuits ofthe type. forming the-subjectmatterof Youngren g Patents No.l 1,123,058,l (Reissue No..

14,110) andNo. 1,2425 52, the improvements residing chiefly in meanswhereby the use of the4 metal frame ,around theclosuregtoA thej openingat the upper endlofthe suit bei obviated and the 'weight`thereof, aswellas the rigidity incident 'to its use'gaji',V this point I parts,

in the suit, be avoided, all as will behereinafter more fully describedand claimed.

f Referring to the accompanyingfdrawings which are made a part hereof,and on which similar reference characters indicate similar Figure l 1s afront elevation ofa suit of my improved construction showing the up-Vper end thereof as it appears when open and ready to be put on, aportion of the, front of the suit being shown broken out to illus tratemore clearly the position of the neckpiece, *Y

Fig. 2, a similar view showing the suit as it appears when closed andadjusted to theV Sipecicaton of Letters IvPjatent.

latentedifiipi.

indicate corresponding parts inthe.several iguresmj; Inthe main, thesuitillustratedf-isvnot materially 'different from ythat formingthe subjectmatte-r ofsaid? patents above referred to' except intheconstruction-whereby the suit. is' openedg and Vclo`sed. :The i bodyf 10 ;is 'of water-proof material, preferably rubber, and;

closed at all; pointsvexceptj-the opening pro- -f vided for theenti'a'ncelo-f thewearer'and the neck-piece, Y as,V will -be *presentlyj described. The I foot portions contain weights 30 j and; straps 31areprovided to secure themf to vthe feet :of ,the` wearer. The 4upperportion of the'suit 'contains pads 35y and 1 3,6' of buoy-ant material,such: aslrkapok, arrangedas more fully vshown' .and .described ,in saidatent 1,242,752.: f *1 with i and extending .upwardlyffrom, its upa`perjfend and of sizeto` readlytadmit .the person lof. the '.wearer,,saidupper'r endl being' from the bodyfrom points12lto a point 18whilegthe front portionis ycut.tottapfer downwardly from saidpo'ints12tocentral point v"14., Iheneck-piece 1.5 isformedfonthe back ofthesacljrjlike'portionfll andfis of elastic, materialzwitli longitudinalstays '16 as illus-'f trailed in .SafLPatentNOi 124:2,5725and-gepositioned., to. f @Oye-1". ever., thelhead o wearer as indicatedinFigl.12,`` ff' i' A; series of strap' "17 andi18 are'lprovidedi i onkthe front of the suit adapted to Lloop around the foldedcape orsack-like portion as indicatedpin Fig. 2. Each of the .straps isprovided with a buckle 25 asl shown, and the outer end of each strap isformed with a thickened portiony 20, or a part secured thereon of athickness to prevent the end of the strap from passing .through thebuckle.A By this means the straps are always looped in the positionindicated in Fig. 1, A" j ready to receive the folded end of thecape.

Straps 19 furnish handholds for convenience in drawingl the vloop tight.

`formed substantiallyas' illustrated inFig. 11' p f Vwith its rearportion;` extending outwardly.

Inputting on the suit the wearer gets intov I Vthe suit feet rs't, theupper endbeing vopened as indicated in Fig. 1.`

V A stra-'p 21 secured to the front portion ofthe suit is first passedover the head of the wearer in orderrto raiseup and support the upperend vr1o of the suit at the proper elevation bringing the buoyant liningup with it and thereby maintaining the buoyancy as close to theV head aspossible. The capeportion is then pulled forward and the headof thewearer projected Ythrough the neck-piece V15, which,

eing of elastic material, as Vdescribed in said patents beforementioned, closes closely around the neck, forming a closure that iswater-tight, but at the same time flexible and elastic to permit easybreathing and movements of the muscles of the neck for any purpose. Thenon-elastic strips 16 prevent stretching in a longitudinal direction andthus facilitate the operation of insertin-g the head through theopening. The strap 21 may be adjustable by a buckle 40,

` *i as'indioated by vdotted lines Vin Fig. if

desired.

The open end of the o'apeis then brought downvr in front of the wearerbelow the neck and folded over, the extended rear portion being'doubledunder the out downfront "j Y portion and the part rolled Vup to thecenter from each edge. Thecone-shaped end thus formed is then extended`through the loops *formed by the straps 17 and v18.

Said straps are then drawn tightly around saidy folded portion .v andsecured by lthe buckles. LT his ,forms a closure that is water.-

tight" and permits' a structure of the suit that has no' stili'projecting metalshoulder pieees',thereby enabling the wearer to adjusthimself to openings, as when passing through hatch-.ways in the ships,and other places, as will be understood.l Y Havingthus fully describedour said in-` vention, what weolaim as new and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is z` i ,1. A onefpiec'e garn'lcantk 'of kwater-proofmaterial :for use as a life reserver formed ywithglan extendedcape-like` portion sury rounding its upper end having an opening`through Vwhich entrance to` and exit from S'd* garment may be made,.said cape-like portion .also embodying. in'ts rear portion Y an elasticneck-piece with an opening for the passage ofthe head ofthe wearer, andstraps securedto theufront ofthe garment below the normal position ofthe'neck-piece and arranged to form loops 'to' surround and tion adaptedto fold together, a neck-piece Y formed inthe extende'dportion, and asupporting strap attached to 'thefront of theV suit and adapted toextend overV the head of the wearer back of the neck to-support thelfront portion and buoyant ymaterialI mounty ed within .saidsuit nearthe upper end thereof and attached thereto,substantially as set fOIlih.'Y: E s Y' l 3. A life preserver comprising a suit -of waiter-proofmaterial adapted "to envelop the entire body of the wearer and formedrwithV an extended portion at its upper end through which entrance toand exitV fromV the suit may be made, a neck-piece 'in said extended yportion Ytln-"c'iugh which the head of the' wearer may be inserted,buoyant material attached to the interior of the suit near `the upperend thereof, and a supporting strap secured to said suit near its upperend adapt` ed to passi over'the head of the wearer, whereby thebuoyantmaterial is supported close to theneck, substantially as setforth.

Veo

' In witness whereof, We have hereunto 4set our hands and 'se'alsvatNewYork' city, New

York, this 12th day Tof June, A. nineteen hundred and eighteen.

osoAR A. YOUNG'RENQ [esgj JAMES A.V Witnesses:

Y B.l J. HAssELMAm p A. E. Ifuomenqf.V l Y WATT.

